Reality or Dream?
by Book girl fan
Summary: Crossover with Inception. Mirror story to 'Dream or Reality'. Incomplete, though each part stands alone.
1. 2:43 AM

The call came at 2:43 AM.

"He's dead." Haruhi's voice was flat, emotions stripped back until there was nothing but facts remaining. "Tamaki just -" her voice chokes with a sob, quickly repressed. "Tamaki died."

Kyoya swallows once, twice. The lump in his throat is still there. He swallows again, pushing down his grief. Later, that's for later, when his best friend's wife isn't on the other end of the phone, telling him her husband, his friend, is dead. Now is for Haruhi. When he speaks, his tone rivals hers for emotionlessness. "Are you-" alright, no, she'll never be alright, how could she be? "-hurt?"

"I'm not injured."

He notices her phrasing, but does not comment. "Where are you?"


	2. First Death

Tamaki is still smiling his familiar joyous smile when he stabs Kyoya in the heart.

How oddly appropriate, Kyoya thinks, in those few, timeless seconds before white hot pain blanks out his vision and he comes to, jackknifing upwards between the still sleeping Haruhi and Johnson, their mark. He gets up and checks on the PASIV lines, stopping the hand that's trying to rub away the pain in his chest as soon as he notices it. Haruhi should be finishing up any second, the job harder but not impossible with his absence.

Sure enough, minutes later Haruhi is awake, and they quickly pack up the PASIV and leave before Johnson wakes. Kyoya doesn't ask about Tamaki.


	3. Mon Ami

"Oh, Kyoya, _mon ami_ ," Tamaki whispers, his breath hot in Kyoya's ear. "You must know by now, this isn't about you, not really."

Kyoya closes his eyes, tries to will Tamaki away. It doesn't work. Tamaki's still pressed up close against him, blonde strands trailing over Kyoya's face, itching where they fall. Kyoya can feel the heat of Tamaki's body beside him, the smell of roses and lavender that he had always carried. He could almost believe this is the real Tamaki, for a moment wishes he could, but Tamaki is dead. It's been three months, and Tamaki is still dead. This is just a projection. Kyoya refuses to think about whose.

Tamaki - the projection - moves impossibly closer, crowding Kyoya up against the adjoining wall. "This isn't real, Kyoya," he breathes. Kyoya leans back, head hitting against the wood panelling, eyes closing, avoiding the sight of his best friend's face so tantalisingly close. "This isn't real. I need to bring my Haruhi home, to the real world."

Kyoya opens his eyes, caught by the passion in Tamaki's words. He's never been able to resist Tamaki, and they both know it. _Knew it_ , Kyoya corrects. _Tamaki's dead_. The thought gives him the jolt he needs to slide out from under the projection, twisting until it is no longer him, but it, that is the prey. "Tamaki is dead," he whispers furiously. "No projection can ever change that."


	4. The Twins

"She'll never love you, you know." The twins materialise out of the shadows beside him, watching him watch Haruhi walk away.

"She's still in love with Tamaki," Kaoru says, smirk widening as Kyoya does not deny. "She's not going to love you-"

"-even if you do follow her around like a puppy," Hikaru continues seamlessly. "The best point man in the business, and you're always following her." A dash of something approaching jealousy edges into his voice. "She's beautiful, and brilliant, and utterly in love with Tamaki. Even though he's dead."

Kyoya clenches his fists, then slowly releases them. The twins do not fail to notice.

"Jealous?" Hikaru's grin is filled with wicked glee. "Jealous of a dead man, Kyoya? How unbecoming."

"And now following his wife, tying yourself to her in her mad[1] quest for redemption. Do you really love her that much?" Kaoru is softer, his words filled with more wonder than wickedness.

It is this softness that causes Kyoya to lower his defences, words spilling out that he had never intended to be known. "Not her."

Kaoru's eyes widen. Quietly, he pulls a reluctant Hikaru back into the shadows, leaving Kyoya alone in the dark of the warehouse, thinking of a promise he made himself long ago. _It was never about her._

* * *

Suicidal?


End file.
